Jonas Bendiksen / MAGNUM / Agentur Focus / Bangladesh. Kurigram District. 2010.
This image is an iconic example of 20th century magazine photography, the camera is wielded in a confident and enlightened sense to show what is real, to show what is happening, to show what it means to be human in a particular time and age. This notion of truth – and the media itself – have recently come under attack, in related struggles. But it remains crucial to go out into the world and to document what is going on, because this is what reporting means: collecting texts, voices, images. And this is what Jonas Bendiksen does, a Norwegian photographer who was an apprentice at Magnum, the iconic photo agency, of which he later became a member and, subsequently, was appointed president for a while. He went on to travel the world. He published a book about Russia, he showed life in the slums of Nairobi, Mumbai, Jakarta and Caracas. His images present small dramas within the big drama of history unfolding. They are humane in their attention to detail and character, evocative in their use of light, and informative about the world we live in. The image we chose to present tells the story of a group of climate refugees in Bangladesh carrying the roof of their mosque inland, as the old site was threatened by rising sea level. Barefoot they scramble, together they walk.
Values for the 21st Century – First Fellowships at THE NEW INSTITUTE
THE NEW INSTITUTE issues its first fellowship call – focusing on “The Foundations of Value and Values”. The program will be a central element of the fundamental research activities of the new Hamburg-based institute dedicated to promoting systemic change and finding answers to the most urgent ecological, economic, and political challenges of our time.
The program “The Foundations of Value and Values” explores the idea and concept of value-driven transformation along with a number of key questions: Where does value come from in current society? How do new values emerge? And what does it mean to initiate the transformation of society by changing value-sets? Do universal values grounded in the human condition exist? Or are values thoroughly path-dependent? Under which conditions would change be sustainable? THE NEW INSTITUTE approaches these questions with the belief that values hold a central role in shaping behaviour and driving social change.
Confirmed fellows who will support THE NEW INSTITUTE in planning and executing the program include Colin Mayer (Oxford University), Dennis Snower (Global Solutions Initiative), Markus Gabriel (Universität Bonn), Sonja Vogt (Universität Bern) and Corine Pelluchon (Université Paris-Est-Marne-la-Valée). The first fellows selected through this call will begin their work in the fall of 2021 at the Warburg Ensemble, the home of THE NEW INSTITUTE in Hamburg.
The program “The Foundation of Value and Values” builds on an interdisciplinary and trans-sectoral workshop held in Hamburg on February 24 and 25, 2020. Participants (in addition to the above mentioned scholars) included the economist Richard Bronk (LSE), the philosopher Thomas Carlson (University of California, Santa Barbara), the social scientist Paul Collier (University of Oxford), the physicist George Ellis (University of Oxford), the historian Ute Frevert (Max-Planck-Institute for Human Development), the political scientist Patrizia Nanz (IASS Potsdam, and the political economist Philippa Sigl-Glöckner (German Ministry of Finance).
Update: Call has closed (28.10.2020)
THE NEW INSTITUTE aims to attract outstanding scholarly talent from across the globe. More specifically, TNI seeks applications by committed early- to mid-career researchers who have a proven track record of acknowledged work in a relevant research area. Ideally, candidates have already engaged with networks beyond academia and used creative formats to communicate their research results to achieve public impact. Most importantly, they must identify with the Institute’s mission and aspiration to contribute to social, economic, and ecological transformation.
Colin Mayer summed up the aim and ambition of the program: “THE NEW INSTITUTE has a purpose of effecting change and it's that combination of giving people the freedom to interact and to develop their lines of thinking that is of considerable practical significance to the world around us.”